Are you antiracist or are you not racist?

Do you know the difference between antiracist and not racist?  The former vocally disputes racist behaviors and ideas. It is outspoken against assigning value to people based on skin color. And, most importantly, it requires active participation. The latter only requires someone to remain silent and doesn’t actually stand against racism.

Which are you? Antiracist or not racist?

I’ve wanted to start this blog for so long. I’ve started so many posts but never posted a single one, mostly because I could never decide on what should be the all-important first post. And I wasn’t sure if my thoughts were important enough to share. I wasn’t sure if people would care. But today I’ve become convinced this should be the first post. And I’m also convinced that it is both important enough to share and that people should care.

But why now? I mean, we’re in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic fighting a virus with no cure. Unemployment is at an all-time high. And the anxiety of many people and businesses not having enough money might soon be overshadowed if a potential food shortage becomes a reality. Yet I’m writing about racism?  Yep, that’s right.

With all those things dominating news headlines, another story has finally started to gain the attention it has deserved for months. And, unfortunately, it involves Georgia. I’m proud to be a native of Georgia, but even I have to admit that it’s in the news far too often, rarely for good reasons. This time, on February 23rd, Ahmaud Arbery was tragically murdered in the southeast part of the state. But this happened months ago. So why all the attention now? Because a video was released capturing Arbery’s final moments. It shows him jogging and encountering a roadblock. Several men had parked a truck in the middle of the road with plans to apprehend him because they thought he was a burglar.

Can you imagine that happening to you? Being out for a run and suddenly confronted by armed vigilantes? By people who accuse you of being a criminal and who want to forcibly apprehend you?

To me it sounds both terrifying and eerily similar to what happened to Trayvon Martin. Another young, Black male senselessly murdered by vigilante justice. And at first, it seemed the assailants would go unpunished. But eventually, two men were arrested on May 7th in connection with the shooting.

So what makes this incident different than previous ones? The video? That’s not new. Videos have been released before capturing tragedies like this. Oscar Grant, Laquan McDonald, and Tamir Rice come to mind. Those videos didn’t seem to amount to much.

And isn’t this post supposed to be about racism? Nothing has confirmed Arbery’s attackers were motivated by racism. And even if they were, Georgia has insufficient hate crime legislation. But that’s the thing. Racism is more than hatemongering and violence. It’s more than viciously proclaiming one race is superior to another. It involves any type of unequal treatment or belief based on race, and that doesn’t always involve violence. Sometimes it’s subtle. And sometimes it extends beyond those committing the heinous acts and actually involves the judicial system and the people responsible for administering the justice. Many believe that’s what happened to Oscar Grant, Laquan McDonald, and Tamir Rice. And maybe that’s what was happening before Arbery’s video emerged.  After all, locals have been concerned for some time about nepotism and privilege within the District Attorney’s office near where Arbery was killed.

And that’s what angers so many when shootings like these happen. Not only do people raise questions about whether the attackers were racially motivated, people also raise questions about race playing a role when it comes to serving justice. But it doesn’t only apply to shootings. Eric Garner and Freddie Gray weren’t shot, but their deaths raise those same questions and ignite racially charged emotions.

There’s no denying that deaths tend to attract the nation’s attention, especially those under these types of circumstances. But like I said, present day racism isn’t always depicted through violence. And once again Georgia proves that it is definitely still happening. While most of the country was still deliberating on whether people should remain in quarantine or if businesses should reopen, Governor Kemp decided that businesses in Georgia can reopen. That in itself sparked a debate among locals, but it was something else that actually caught my eye during the decision. Something much more hateful. Keisha Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta, shared concerns about reopening the city too early, and how did someone respond? By making a logical argument about how businesses could use revenue? If they did, that’s not what made the news. What made the news instead? Mayor Bottoms and her 12 year-old son both received text messages calling them the N-word. The sad thing is I wasn’t even shocked. And this type of stuff isn’t confined to just Georgia. By now many have heard about the man grocery shopping in California while wearing his KKK hood. People were scared to approach him. The fact that the KKK incites such fear suggests it should be considered an official terror organization and known affiliation should be treated as such. Unfortunately, our country doesn’t define it as one, which is a complex conversation for another day. And sadly, with everything going on at the moment, people feel the need to parade around a public store right now in an attire that lets the whole world know they support racial supremacy.

Racism is clearly alive in our country. And it seems to doing well. But many think things are better than they used to be. Should they be better? Yes. Are things actually better? I’m not so sure.

I suppose the abolition of slavery in 1863 was a sign that things were better since it declared many free and eliminated slave ships which had been carrying Africans to America from 1619 to 1860. But then I’m reminded that the Declaration of Independence stated all men are created equal. How is it that document was signed in 1776 though slavery continued for almost another hundred years? And that next century is mostly known for things like “separate but equal” and terror from lynching. I suppose the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was another sign that things were better although things like redlining and voting rights still wouldn’t be addressed until years later. I think the most important thing to note throughout all of this is that implementing new legislature doesn’t mean that people’s hearts will also change. New laws don’t enforce people to think differently, even when it comes to promoting equality for people.

Interracial marriage is a clear illustration. Up until 1967 it was still illegal in 16 states and sometimes treated as a felony. The Supreme Court made a ruling that year to overrule the bans. And even though the Supreme Court takes precedent over local laws, some states opted to uphold local laws outlawing interracial marriage, even though the laws were no longer valid. Like I said, passing legislation doesn’t change the hearts of people. Just take a look at Alabama. They were the last state to overturn their local ban when they finally amended their constitution in 2000. And even then, only 60% of the voters approved to support the amendment. Yes, you read that correctly. Over 545,000 Alabama voters said they would prefer to keep the language in the state’s constitution that banned interracial marriage, even though the law was no longer valid. Seriously? Yes, seriously.

So are things actually better? Obviously, not having slavery is better than having slavery. But is that the only thing that matters? Like I said, I think things are just different now. And perhaps it’s more appropriate to not use the word better and use enough. Have we done enough to make up for hundreds of years of racial oppression? Are we doing enough to ensure equal treatment and consideration when making decisions? Do enough people speak up when faced with racism? I don’t think so.

I’m sure there were plenty of people on the sidelines during the Civil Rights era who didn’t think segregation was right. But they weren’t protesting or fighting against it. And sadly their silence wasn’t enough. The same goes for racism today. Even Martin Luther King Jr. said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” And it’s not just about saying something when you see someone grocery shopping in a KKK hood. It means speaking up when you hear an ignorant comment. It means not letting a microaggression slide. Sometimes it means calling out a friend. Yes, that’s hard. But no one said fighting racism was easy.

Not only do I believe we all can do more, I believe we all need to do more. But it requires active participation and it’s a choice we all have to make.

So what will you choose to be? Antiracist or non-racist?